四级考前冲刺试题二

四级考前冲刺试题二Care of Parents Also Means Taking Care of FinancesDenise Egebrecht needed a break.It had been three years since her 86-year-old mother, Eleanor Schwartz, moved in with her and her husband in their home in Johnsburg, Ill. Mrs. Schwartz has Alz heimer’s disease (老年痴呆症) and has trouble moving around, so Mrs. Egebrecht helps her mother with her shower each day, makes sure she’s fed and takes her on small excursions (远足) to the mall in a portable wheelchair. The routine includes occasionally reminding her mother of what day it is and where she’s living.Mrs. Egebrecht does all this while also raising her 8-year-old daughter Jaqueline and juggling a full-time job.“My mom took care of me all of my life,” says Mrs. Egebrecht. “Of course I’m going to ta ke care of her now. She’ll live here as long as she’s able.”But money was an issue. For a time, Mrs. Egebrecht was out of work, having lost her job last year. Although her husband was still employed, without her salary she found it increasingly difficult to pay $180 a week for the adult day care center Mrs. Schwartz attends regularly.Then, through the Family Alliance office in her town, Mrs. Egebrecht heard about a $1,000 “respite care (临时看护)” grant sponsored by the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA).Intended to give primary caregivers the break they so often need, the grant money must be used to pay for temporary substitute care, said Carol Steinberg, executive vice president of the Alzheimer’s Foundation. Mrs. Egebrecht applied for and received the grant, which meant her mother could continue to go to the adult day care center and Mrs. Egebrecht had time to find another job, which she has.Mrs. Egebrecht is one of the growing numbers of Americans facing the financial squeeze that can come from caring for elderly parents.About 30 percent of adult children in the United States contribute financially to their parents’ care, according to the Pew Research Center. On average these children pay $2,400 a year on everything from uncovered medical expenses to making sure the refrigerator is stocked each week. The money often goes to parents who diligently saved all their lives, but in the face of longer life spans and chronic illness, the savings just isn’t enough.With all of the overwhelming emotional an d medical aspects of caring for elderly parents, it’s natural to ignore the consequences of spending large amounts of money on them. But so often adult children end up ignoring their own savings and retirement accounts or, worse, go into debt, because they’re taking care of their parents, says Tim Casserly, a lawyer in Albany who specializes in issues of elderly care.And if you jeopardize (损害) your own finances now, you risk putting your children in the same tough spot down the line.One way out of this bind? Take full advantage of the hundreds of government and nonprofit programs and services geared to the elderly throughout the country. “There’s lots of help out there, but also lots of reasons why families don’t use it,” said Mr. Casserly.Some people may think their parents have too much money to qualify even though many of the programs are available to elderly people with incomes of more than $100,000. Or the parents may be too proud to accept help.What’s more, these services can be difficult and time-consuming to find. And it can be a challenge to deal with the paperwork and red tape, especially when you’re already overwhelmed by the daily demands of taking care of an older parent.To help make the search for help easier, here is expert advice and several resources that will help you find what you need to take care of your aging parents.THE FIRST STEPHave the hard talk.“So often I see clients who are in the middle of this situation but know very little about their parents’ finances,” said Henni F isher, a Brooklyn clinical social worker who specializes in geriatrics (老人病学). Your parents may be unwilling or unable to give details. Or you may be uncomfortable bringing up the subject.“It isn’t easy making the transition from the one being cared for to the one giving the care,” said Ms. Fisher.But you can’t put the conversation off any longer. Reassure your parents that you’re not trying to take control away from them. You’re simply trying to make sure that they have everything they need and that you understand everything they want.During this conversation, or series of conversations, be sure to ask about one of the largest expenses for older people: assisted living or nursing home facilities. Do your parents have long-term care insurance that can h elp with this exceptionally great expense? If they don’t, should they get it? (For more information, see our previous article “Getting Insurance for One’s Frailest Years.”)THE DOCUMENTSYou’ll also want to make sure your parents have the proper paperwork in place. In an emergency, you’ll need legal authority to act on your parents behalf. Make sure your parents have signed a durable power of attorney authorizing you or some other trustworthy person to take over financial decisions — including signing checks and paying bills — on their behalf.And keep in mind these other necessary documents: A durable power of attorney for health care (also called a health care proxy) authorizing someone to make medical decisions when your parents cannot; and a living will outlining your parent’s wishes if life support is needed.These forms mYork State you may need a lawyer’s help sorting out a new 12-page complex power of attorney form, advises Mr. Casserly.)HIRING AN OUTSIDERMany families find relief when they hire a geriatric care manager. These consultants, which can cost anywhere from $50 to $200 an hour, will assess your parents’ situation, offer counseling and help you find the local services you need.So vital are these new professionals that my colleague Lesley Alderman will be devoting next week’s Patient Money column to tips on finding the right care manager for your parents’ situation.1. In the recent three years, Denise Egebrecht has been busy .A) looking after her sick baby daughter B) helping her husband with the houseworkC) taking care of her sick elderly mother D) looking for a better job to support the family2. According to Carol Steinberg, executive vice president of AFA, Mrs. Egebrecht can use the grantto .A) have a luxurious holiday B) get day care for her motherC) finance her job-seeking D) cure her mother’s disease3. We learn from the Pew Research Center that one third of American adult children .A) have parents with no savings and pensionsB) ignore the emotional needs of their parentsC) can’t afford the daily and medical expensesD) spend their own money on their parents’ care4. What often happens to adult children taking care of their parents according to Tim Casserly?A) They don’t prepare enough for th eir own future.B) They attach great importance to their own savings.C) They inevitably ignore their children’s needs.D) They become experts in issues of elderly care.5. What did Mr. Casserly imply about many American families?A) They have saved enough so as to take care of the elderly.B) They don’t turn to government and nonprofit programs and services.C) They don’t trust the programs supported by the local government.D) They know nothing about projects and services for the elderly.6. What problem do many adult children have according to Henni Fisher?A) They are incapable of taking over their parents’ finances.B) They exhaust themselves taking care of their parents.C) They find it hard to persuade their parents to accept help.D) They don’t know how much money their parents have.7. According to the passage, “Getting Insurance for One’s Frailest Years” contains informationon .A) communication with old parents B) expenditure of the elderlyC) long-term care insurance D) necessary home facilities8. A parent-signed durable power of attorney grants an adult child power to make_____________________________________as the parent’s agent.9. New York State’s adult children are suggested to turn to_____________________________________when having difficulty getting the paperwork.10. Consultants specializing in elderly care issues give many families_____________________________________with their counseling and help.Part IV Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth) (25 minutes)When you think about the growth of human population over the last century or so, it is all too easy to imagine it merely as an increase in the number of humans. But as we 47 , so do all the things associated with us, 48 our livestock (家畜). At present, there are about billion cattle and domestic buffalo andabout billion sheep and goats. With pigs and poultry, they form a 49 part of our enormous biological footprint upon this planet.Just how enormous was not really apparent until the 50 of a new repor t, called “Livestock’s Long Shadow,” by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.Consider these numbers. Global livestock grazing (放牧) and feed production use “30 percent of the land surface of the planet.” Livestock — which consume more food than they 51 — also compete directly with humans for water. And the drive to expand grazing land destroys more biologically sensitive terrain, rain forests 52 , than anything else.But what is even more striking, and alarming, is that livestock are 53 for about 18 percent of the global warming effect, more than transportation’s 54 . The culprits (罪魁祸首) are methane — the natural result of bovine digestion — and the nitrogen emitted by manure. Deforestation of grazing land adds to the effect.There are no easy trade-offs when it comes to global warming — such as cutting back on cattle to make room for cars. The human 55 for meat is certainly not about to end anytime soon. As “Livestock’s Long Shadow” makes clear, our health and the health of the planet depend on pushingSection B :Passage One:Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.Women are on the verge of outnumbering men in the workforce for the first time, a historic reversal caused by long-term changes in women’s roles and massive j ob losses for men during this recession.Women held % of the nation’s 132 million jobs in June and they’re gaining the vast majority of jobs in the few sectors of the economy that are growing, according to the most recent numbers available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.That’s a record high for a measure that’s been growing steadily for decades and accelerating during the recession. At the current pace, women will become a majority of workers in October or November.“It was a long historical slog (沉重缓慢的前进) to get to this point,” says labor economist Heidi Hartmann, president of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.The change reflects the growing importance of women as wage earners, but it doesn’t show full equality, Hartmann says. On average, women work fewer hours than men, hold more part-time jobs and earn 77% of what men make, she says. Men also still dominate higher-paying executive ranks.Women have been a growing share of the once heavily male labor force for nearly a century, recording big bumps during epochal (划时代的) events such as the Depression and World War II. This time, the boost came from a severe recession that has been brutal (无情的) on male-dominated professions such as construction and manufacturing.The only parts of the economy still growing — health care, education and government — have traditionally hired mostly women. That dominance has increased in part because federal stimulus funding directed money to education, health care and state and local governments.The gender transfor mation is especially remarkable in local government’s million-person workforce. Cities, schools, water authorities and other local legal power have cut 86,000 men from payrolls during the recession — while adding 167,000 women, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.“Unemployment among men isn’t going to last forever,” says University of Chicago economist Casey Mulligan. “People will move from construction and manufacturing to industries that are creating new jobs.” Mulligan expects the portion of jobs held by women to peak slightly above 50% this year, then drop below half when the economy recovers and more men find work.57. What does the author say about the workforce during this recession?A) Men make up the most profitable Women gain jobs while men lose jobs.C) Women take the most jobs in the Women outnumber men in few sectors.58. According to labor economist Heidi Hartmann, the current workforce change .A) will bring women equal pay as menB) couldn’t hide sexual inequality that stil l existsC) reflects women’s struggle to support the familyD) results from men’s domination of higher-paying jobs59. What happened to the women workforce during World War II?A) It decreased suddenly. B) It contributed to the high unemployment rate.C) It enjoyed a boost. D) It took over the male-dominated professions.60. According to the passage, one aim of the federal stimulus funding is to .A) promote health care and education B) create new jobs for laid-off menC) reduce the unemployment rate D) encourage women to work outside the home61. It is anticipated by economist Casey Mulligan that .A) there will be equality in workforce numbers by the end of this yearB) it will be much easier for men to find work compared with womenC) the image that the man has to be the breadwinner will soon changeD) men will exceed women in the workforce with the economic recoveryPassage Two:Questions 62 to 66 are based on the following passage.Nearly half of US employers research the online profiles of job candidates on social networks such as Facebook, MySpace or LinkedIn, according to a new survey.Forty-five percent of the employers surveyed for , the largest US online job site, said they use social networking sites to check on job candidates, up from just 22 percent in a survey conducted last year.Another 11 percent said they plan to start using social networking sites for screening.“As social networking grows increasingly pervasive, more employers are utilizing these sites to scre en potential employees,” CareerBuilder said in a statement. It said job seekers should “be mindful of the information they post online.”CareerBuilder said that of those who conduct online searches as background checks on job candidates, 29 percent use Facebook, 26 percent use LinkedIn and 21 percent use MySpace. Eleven percent search blogs while seven percent follow candidates on micro-blogging service Twitter.Thirty-five percent of those surveyed said they have found content on a social network that caused them not to hire a candidate, CareerBuilder said. Examples included “provocative (挑衅的) or inappropriate photographs or information” or content about drinking or using drugs. Other reasons cited were badmouthing (说坏话) a previous employer, co-workers or clients, poor communication skills, making discriminatory (歧视性的) comments, lying about qualifications or sharing confidential information from a previous employer.Information found on social networking profiles was not always a negative factor in finding a job.Eighteen percent of employers said they have found content on social networking sites that caused them to hire the candidate, CareerBuilder said.Some profiles “provided a good feel for the candidate’s personality” or supported their professiona l qualifications while others demonstrated creativity or solid communication skills.Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder, recommended that candidates “clean up digital dirt” before beginning a job search by removing photos, content and links which could hurt their chances.The survey of 2,667 hiring managers and human resource professionals was conducted by Harris Interactive between May 22 and June 10. It has a sampling error of plus or minus percentage points.62. In the passage, “screening” (Line 1, Para. 3) refers to .A) testing employees for illness B) revealing something that hidesC) checking on potential employees D) conducting online researches63. Social networks websites are used by many employers because the former .A) help reveal what kind of person an job candidate isB) can spread the information of the company in a fast wayC) save companies lots of money on communicationD) help improve employer-employee relationship64. According to the survey, the social networking website used most by employers to check job candidates is . A) CareerBuilder B) MySpace C) Facebook D) LinkedIn65. CareerBuilder’s vice HR president Rosemary Haefner suggested that job seekers .A) take wild party pictures off their blogsB) never talk ill of their previous bossesC) avoid logging on social networks in real name D) remove all the personal information online66. What is the passage mainly about?A) Social networks have put job seekers at a disadvantage.B) Privacy protection has become more important in job seeking.C) Different employers have different preferences for social network websites.D) More employers resort to social networks when making hiring decisions.Researchers have established that when people are mentally engaged, biochemical changes occur in the brain that allow it to act more effectively in cognitive(认知的) areas such as 67. A) referring B) regardlessC) concerning D) despite68. A) unless B) whileC) if D) whethera t t e n t i o n a n d memory. This is true 67 of age.People will be alert and receptive 68 they are faced with information that gets them to think about things they are interested in. And someone 69 a history of doing more 70 than less will go into old age more cognitively 71 than someone who has not had an active mind.Many experts are so 72 of the benefits of challenging the brain 73 they are putting the theory to 74 in their own lives. “The idea is not 75 to learn to memorize enormous amounts of information,” says James Fozard, associate director of an institute 76 aging. “Most of us d o n’t need that kind of skill. Such 77 training is of less interest than being able to 78 mental alertness. ” Fozard and others say they 79 their brains with different mental skills, both because they enjoy them and because they are sure that their range of activities will help the way their brains work.Gene Cohen, acting director of the same institute, 80 that people in their old age should81 in mental and physical activities individually as 82 as in groups. Cohen says that we are frequently advised to keep physically active as we age, 83 older people need to keep mentally active as well. Those who do are more 84 to maintain their intellectual abilities and to be generally happier and better 85 , “The point is: you need to do 86 ,” Cohen says. “Intellectual activity actually influences brain-cell health and size.”69. A) of B) withC) about D) from70. A) rather B) betterC) other D) greater71. A) ambitious B) reasonableC) perfect D) sound72. A) persuaded B) convincedC) supposed D) counseled73. A) as B) soC) because D) that74. A) work B) jobC) truth D) fact75. A) essentially B) completelyC) necessarily D) remarkably76. A) at B) onC) in D) by77. A) excessive B) generalC) specific D) similar78. A) maintain B) sustainC) retain D) obtain79. A) regulate B) encounterC) stimulate D) challenge80. A) suggests B) advisesC) protests D) supposes81. A) pursue B) involveC) engage D) devote82. A) good B) wellC) soon D) far83. A) but B) orC) and D) though84. A) obliged B) probableC) likely D) partial85. A) adapted B) adoptedC) prepared D) adjusted86. A) either B) neitherC) all D) both87. Contrast may make something appear more beautiful ___________________________ (比单独看时).88. She has a headache because she ___________________________ (看了太长时间的书).89. Corn was not known in Europe until Columbus ___________________________ (发现玉米被种植) in Cuba.90. You shouldn’t have been following him so closely; you ____________________________ (应该保持距离).91. While crossing the mountain area, all the men carried guns lest they___________________________ (被野生动物袭击).参考答案1. 有人赞成在教师节给老师送礼2. 有人则表示反对3. 我认为…Should We Give Gifts to Teachers on Teachers’ Day?Whether we should give gifts to teachers on Teachers’ Day has become a topic of debate in China recently. Some people say we should for two reasons. The first reason is that gifts presented to teachers show our respect and appreciation for teachers’ contribution. Second is that teachers deserve the gifts and it has been a tradition for thousands of years.Some people, on the contrary, say we should ban gifts on Teacher’s Day. The festival, they say, has been materialized as more students’ parents turn to expensive gifts or even cash to offer teachers for some personalinterests. It has put much pressure on parents that are not rich. Worse still, it may lead to the corruption of teachers.In my view, gifts still serve as a good way to express people’s love and respect toward honourable teachers and should not be banned. However, people should give small and meaningful rather than expensive gifts to teachers for the sake of students, parents and teachers. After all, it is not the price of the gift but just the heart you put into it that is meaning and important.Part II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning)1. C)2. B)3. D)4. A)5. B)6. D)7. C)8. financial decisions 9. the lawyer 10. reliefPart III Listening ComprehensionSection A11. A) 12. B) 13. C) 14. D) 15. B) 16. D) 17. B) 18. D)19. C) 20. B) 21. D) 22. D) 23. C) 24. D) 25. A)Section B26. B) 27. C) 28. A) 29. D) 30. A) 31. D) 32. C) 33. D) 34. C) 35. A)Section C36. passports 37. guarantee 38. specifies 39. introduced40. background 41. access 42. confirming 43. register44. The government has said that the cost of a combined 10-year passport will be 93 pounds45. scanners and readers needed for the national identity card scheme would have to be introducedanyway46. The use of more secure identity confirmation systems would mean cuts in social security, housingbenefits and council tax deceptionPart IV Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth)Section A47. F) 48. N) 49. G) 50. A) 51. E) 52. O) 53. M) 54. C) 55. H) 56. L)Section B57. B) 58. B) 59. C) 60. A) 61. D) 62. C) 63. A) 64. C) 65. A) 66. D)Part V Cloze67. B) 68. C) 69. B) 70. A) 71. D) 72. B) 73. D) 74. A) 75. C) 76. B)77. C) 78. A) 79. D) 80. A) 81. C) 82. B) 83. A) 84. C) 85. D) 86. D)87. than it is when seen alone 88. has been reading too long 89. found it being cultivated90. should have kept your distance 91. (should) be attacked by wild animals。